Cavs News: Easier schedule ahead, missed calls, ESPN trade idea

The Cleveland Cavaliers play the Houston Rockets tonight for the first time this season. The Rockets are 11-37 on the season, a 22.9 percent winning percentage that is the worst in the league. The Cavaliers are favored by eight points on the road in Houston.

The game tonight kicks off a stretch of the NBA schedule that is significantly easier than what the Cavs have played thus far. Per Basketball Reference’s Strength-of-Schedule, the Cavaliers have had the eighth-hardest schedule in the NBA thus far. Moving forward, Tankathon.com says that the remaining 33 games are the NBA’s second-easiest slate.

The Cavs have two games against the Rockets, two against the Detroit Pistons, three against the Charlotte Hornets, one against the San Antonio Spurs and two against the Orlando Magic. That’s a combined 10 games against the league’s 10-worst teams, a silver platter of winnable games that can help boost the Cavs’ record as they battle for playoff positioning down the stretch.

The other aspect of the remaining schedule that works in Cleveland’s favor? Most of the teams they are fighting with in the Eastern Conference race have much more difficult schedules than the Cavs do. The Philadelphia 76ers (3rd-hardest), Milwaukee Bucks (8th) and Brooklyn Nets (9th) have a harder path ahead.

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Each day, the NBA releases its “Last Two-Minute Report” in an attempt to keep its officials accountable. They evaluate each call or non-call in the last two minutes of close games and decide whether it was correct or not. Yesterday’s report declared that Donovan Mitchell was fouled twice late in the loss to the New York Knicks, both of which were not called. It’s reasonable to think that the Cavaliers win if one or both of those calls are changed.

Yet it’s not the time to start shouting from the mountaintops that the Cavs are victims of the league or the officials. They have benefited from missed calls going in their favor in other games, including Mitchell’s lane violation during his 71-point game. Calls are missed all the time; it’s part of the game.

Here on the website, we took a look at a trade pitched by ESPN for the Cavs to upgrade on the wing. It’s a 2-for-1 swap with a Western Conference team; is it worth it for the Cavaliers to make this move?

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The Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies put in a candidate for Game of the Year, with a back-and-forth affair where everyone on the court seemed to have beef with the other team. The Warriors overcame a late deficit and Stephen Curry’s third-career ejection to win on Jordan Poole’s last-second layup.

Closer to home, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid shared the court as opponents for the first time. Two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams went down to the wire, with the Philadelphia 76ers pulling out the 137-133 win. The Milwaukee Bucks also won to keep the top of the East standings tight and competitive.

Coming up: The Cavaliers play the Houston Rockets tonight at 8:00 PM ET in the second of three road games.